


Christmas Time

by BroadwayItBitch



Series: Family Life [13]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Presents, F/F, First Christmas, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Multi, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Robin Buckley Has a Girlfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayItBitch/pseuds/BroadwayItBitch
Summary: It's Christmas with the Party! It's everyone's favorite time of year, but no one celebrates it more than the Party.
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley/Original Female Character(s), Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: Family Life [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1128575
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	Christmas Time

Christmas Day. Christmas was Max’s favorite time of year. The music, the decorations, the scents are some of her favorites. Max Mayfield-Hopper absolutely loves to go all out for Christmas, she gets the best tree, the best decor and looks up the best recipes for dinners.

But her absolute favorite part of it all was spending time with her friends and family. When she was young, she’d spend Christmas morning with her mom, her father and her cousins. However after her mom remarried to Neil, they didn’t do that anymore. All her Christmas mornings were just Neil beating Billy and Susan. Luckily, when she moved to Hawkins and became friends with Mike, Lucas, Will, Dustin and El, they’d spend their Christmas over at the Byers’ house.

They still celebrate Christmas together, but they hold it at Steve and Robin’s house. It was much larger anyways.

Max wants to make this year extra special. It was Jericho’s first Christmas.

El was getting Jericho ready to go to Steve and Robin’s. She decided to dress him up in a cutesy little onesie. It was green and in red text said ‘My 1st Christmas’ .

“Oh, look at you, little one,” El cooed, picking up her son and placing a kiss on his plump cheek. “You’d look like you’d steal the spotlight.” Jericho babbled in response.

“El, you ready?” Max called from the living room.

El walked out of the master bedroom, walking into the living room. “I’m here. Got the diaper bag set up?”

Max nodded. “Yep. Izzy’s trying to get dressed all by herself today.” The redhead smiled. “Hard to think she’s four now. I mean… God, soon she’ll be eighteen and going to college.”

El chuckled. “We don’t need to worry about all of that, love. She’s still young.”

The little pitter-patter of feet came around the corner and there was Isadora, dressed up in a red flannel dress.

“Oh, my goodness!” Max exclaimed. “Look at you! You did that all by yourself?”

Isadora nodded. “Yes, Mama!”

“Oh, Mommy and Mama are so proud of you!” El carefully clapped her hands, making sure Jericho wasn’t slipping out of her arms.

“C’mon, sweetie, we gotta go to Uncle Steve and Auntie Robin’s,” Max said, slinging the diaper bag over her shoulder.

“Auntie Robin!” Isadora cheered.

Jericho babbled again, trying to imitate his big sister. This made Max laugh.

\--------------------

Steve was stressing out with child-proofing the house before the kids came. Whenever the kids weren’t there, he’d take out the socket protectors, take off the child-protective locks, take down the baby gate, and take off the corner guards. He’d meant to put all the child-protecting stuff back on the night before, but Robin had gotten back from a date drunk, so he had to take care of her.

“Alright, got the sockets, then the corners… what am I missing?” He mumbled to himself.

He heard some stumbling coming down the stairs. “The baby gate.” Robin said groggily. “Ugh, where’s the aspirin?”

Steve rushed over to the stairs. “It’s in the kitchen, above the microwave.” He began to put together the baby gate. “While you’re on that, can you put the locks on the cabinets and fridge? The kids are gonna be here any minute and you know the twins are in the worst part of the Terrible Twos.”

Robin gave him a thumbs up.

Robin was so hammered last night when she came home. She was hardly a heavy drinker, she would maybe have a can of beer or two a week. Steve hadn’t seen Robin that drunk since they first became friends.

“So, what happened last night?” He asked.

“Just Tara getting too drunk and bringing me into it,” Robin responded with a groan. “Should be okay, though.”

Tara was Robin’s girlfriend. They’d been dating for only a year. Robin met her on a business trip to Seattle, and they hit it off right away. Now for two weeks every month, Tara will travel down to Indiana to spend time with Robin.

The doorbell rang, and Steve quickly finished putting the gate up and walked to the door. He opened it, and at the door was Dustin, Lucas and the twins.

“Hey, guys! C’mon in!” They went inside, but Minerva looked grumpy. “What’s up with Minnie?”

Lucas groaned. “She’s mad because Dustin told her to share her teddy bear with Connor.”

Steve chuckled.

“Where’s Robin?” Dustin asked.

“In the kitchen,” Steve replied. “Just don’t make any sudden noises, she’s a bit hungover.”

As if on cue, Connor squealed as loud as he could. “Connor Steven Henderson-Sinclair, inside voices,” Dustin redirected. Steve laughed at the mouthful of his nephew’s name.

The doorbell rang again. This time, Robin answered it. Outside was Will, Mike and Amelia.

“Hey, Robin!” Will said.

“Hey,” She mumbled. The Wheeler-Byers family came inside. “You can set your presents under the tree.”

Mike smiled, guiding Amelia into the living room.

“Where’s Max and El? I thought they’d be here by now,” Robin asked.

Steve laughed. “They’ll be here, they’re probably just in traffic because of all the snow.”

“No, no, no, no, Minerva!” Dustin ran into the kitchen, and there was a huge clatter. “Oh! No!” Steve and Robin went into the kitchen, seeing a few pans on the floor. “That’s it, you’re going into time out.” Dustin picked up his daughter. “Can one of you set a timer for two minutes?”

Steve began picking up the pans while Robin set the timer.

\--------------------

Jericho was wailing in the backseat. He was probably getting hungry, and unfortunately, Max was the one driving. El was trying to comfort her son, trying to get him to drink out of the bottle, but he just wasn’t having it.

“C’mon, hun, just eat,” El pleaded with him. Jericho was much more of a challenge than Isadora was when she was his age. “Max, I don’t know what to do, why can’t we just switch off?”

Max looked in the rear view mirror. “Because I’m trying to wean him off the boob.”

Max had been going back to work more frequently since Jericho was about seven months old. Ever since then, she’s been pumping her breast milk for the day for Jericho. But it’s actually taking him a long time to adjust to the bottle.

“Well, just this once, can you breastfeed him?” El complained.

“Ellie, I’m not fighting you in front of the kids,” Max said.

“Can I try to feed him?” Their four-year-old daughter asked. El nodded and handed her the bottle.

“Tilt the bottom of the bottle up when you put it in his mouth,” She instructed.

When Isadora put the bottle in her brother’s mouth, he instantly stopped crying. Max’s eyes widened. “Make sure he drinks it all, sweetie,” She reminded.

Isadora nodded. She switched arms due to her right arm becoming tired. Once Jericho was finished drinking, El took the bottle from Isadora. “Pull over, Max, I need to burp the baby.”

Max slows down the car, pulling over to the side.

\--------------------

The Mayfield-Hoppers made it just fifteen minutes late, just in time to set up dinner. Part of their traditions is that they’ll wait to open presents until after dinner. Everyone was given a job for Christmas dinner. Mike was on chicken, Will was on veggies, Amelia was on potatoes, Dustin was on setting the table, Lucas was on making the punch, Robin was on cutting up the fruit, and Steve was to set up the high chair for Jericho.

Max and El had arrived a little while ago, and they were to make the desserts. They’d made some lemon bars for everyone the night before.

“Alright, guys, dinner time!” Steve called out.

Will, Mike, Amelia, and Robin went to the dining room, placing the things they’d made on the table.

“Nice job on setting the table, Dustin,” Robin said.

Max, El, Isadora walked up to the table, Jericho in Max’s arms. “My God, everything looks good!” Max began to strap Jericho into the high chair.

“Papa! Can I sit next to Aunt Max?” Connor asked. Dustin looked to his son.

“Yes, Con. Thank you for asking so nicely,” He said, picking him up and setting him next to Max.

Everyone sat down, beginning to grab food and setting them on their plates. Surprising to everyone, Isadora took two big spoonfuls of green beans.

“My goodness, Izzy, you trying to become big and strong like Mommy?” Max asked. Isadora nodded proudly.

As everyone ate, they talked about a whole bunch of things, and Amelia was teaching Robin some complex sign language.

“Have you heard anything from Nancy and Jonathan?” Lucas asked, spooning some mashed potatoes into Minerva’s mouth.

“Yeah, they sent a postcard to us from Norway. They’re having a bunch of fun,” Mike replied.

His sister and brother-in-law had decided to go traveling for Christmas this year. They started out in England, then to Sweden, and now they’re in Norway. Their last stop should be Germany.

“Steve, pass the fruit, Jericho needs some more,” Max said. Steve took the big bowl of fruit, handing it to Max. Max spooned some fruit onto her plate. She took a piece of honeydew, putting it near his mouth. “Wanna try some honeydew, love? It’s really good!” Jericho opened his mouth, and started chewing. “There you go! Awesome job!”

“So, Robin, will Tara be joining us for presents?” Will asked.

“I think so, she texted me saying that she needed to sleep off the drinks she had last night,” She explained.

Minerva clapped her hands. “Yay! Auntie Tawa!”

“You and Tara have been dating for awhile,” El said. “You gonna pop the question?”

Robin began choking after inhaling a piece of chicken. “What? Marriage? I don’t know if we’re ready for that, El.”

“Well, that’s alright. Love takes time. You’ll know when you’re ready,” Max replied.

The doorbell rang, and Steve set his napkin on the table. “I’ll get that.” He stood up from the chair.

**“Why aren’t you eating, Amelia?”** Will asked in sign. Amelia hadn’t been feeling well, at least in the emotional sense. She seemed… disconnected.

Amelia shrugged.  **“Just not hungry.”** She signed back. This didn’t help her father’s concern.  **“May I be excused?”** Mike nodded. She stood up from her seat, going into the guest bedroom.

“What’s up with Amelia?” Robin asked.

“No clue. She’s been like this for a couple of days. She won’t talk to us,” Mike replied.

“Maybe it’s not something she can talk to her dads about. Maybe if she talked to me, El or Max, she’ll open up.”

Mike thought about it. Amelia was turning fourteen next April. She was beginning high school in a little while.

“Robin, it’s for you!” Steve yelled from the foyer. He walked back into the dining room with a girl in tow.

The girl had slick black hair down to her waist. She was wearing a red blouse with ripped black jeans, with red stiletto heels.

“Tara!” Robin exclaimed, standing from her seat, and running to the tall girl. “I’m so glad you made it!” She hugged Tara tightly again.

“Like I would miss Christmas with my awesome girlfriend and her buds!” Tara cheerfully said. “Now, let me get a look at the little ones.” Tara walked over to the table, leaning down to Jericho’s level. “Let me guess, this one is Jericho?” Jericho squealed happily. “And you’re Isadora.” She pointed to the eldest. Isadora nodded. “And I’m guessing these two are Minnie and Connor.” Minerva and Connor happily clapped their hands. “You all have gotten so big the last time I saw you!”

Max chuckled. “They have, especially Izzy here.”

Tara looked around and noticed Amelia wasn’t there. “Where’s Amelia?” She asked.

“In the guest bedroom,” Robin answered. “But she’s not in the mood for company right now.”

Tara clicked her tongue. “Aw, poor girl.” She put her hands on her hips. “Think I can talk to her later?”

Mike nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

Tara smiled. “Well, I need some help getting the presents out of my car.”

Will and El stood up from their chairs. “We can help,” El said.

“I can take the plates,” Robin volunteered.

\--------------------

They were halfway through presents. They decided the kids would be opening their gifts first. Tara was really the MVP of presents for the kids. Her accounting job really allowed her to get the best gifts.

Minerva just opened her last gift, and she squealed loudly. “Astronaut Barbie!” Tara giggled. “Thanks Tawa!” She hugged the little two-year-old.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Tara said.

El handed Max a small gift, which she unwrapped. It was a box and she opened it. Inside was a necklace in the shape of a heart with Isadora’s and Jericho’s names engraved. Next to their names were their birthstones, Isadora’s being topaz and Jericho’s being amethyst.

“Aw, El, this is beautiful.” The gift reminded Max when she gave El a necklace with Isadora’s name engraved. “Thank you, my love.” Max pecked El’s lips.

“You’re welcome.”

Will then handed Mike a flat present, about as big as his whole hand. Mike tore it open and his mouth dropped open.

“Will…” Mike whispered.

Mike had gotten a somewhat big photo of Amelia. In the photo, she was wearing a red flowy dress and the snow was falling onto her hair gracefully. Her hair was straightened, and her makeup looked very minimal. She looked so happy.

Amelia hadn’t talked at all during presents, other than the thanks to her aunts and uncles.

Lucas had given Dustin a coupon book of date night coupons. Dustin gave Lucas a replica of his old hat from when they were kids.

“Is that all the presents?” El asked.

“No, I still have one more for Robin,” Tara replied, grabbing a small gift bag and handing it to Robin.

Slowly, Robin opened the bag, digging through the tissue paper and taking out a small box. Robin opened it and saw the most beautiful ring she’s ever seen.

It was a sapphire gem surrounded by diamonds, while the band was encrusted with diamonds as well.

“Tara…” Robin whispered in astonishment.

Tara took the ring box, kneeling on her left knee. Robin gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth. Steve and Dustin took out their phones to record this ordeal.

“Robin Maddelyn Buckley, you have made me happy since we met. When you asked me for drinks one night in Seattle, I was hooked on you. I want you to be part of my future. Robin, will you marry me?”

Tears were running down Robin’s face. With a timid nod, she whispered a ‘ _ yes _ ’. Tara smiled brightly, taking the ring out of its box and slipping it onto Robin’s ring finger. Robin chuckled, firmly kissing Tara on the lips.

Everyone began clapping.

“We’re engaged, baby,” Tara said. Robin nodded again, unable to find her words.

\--------------------

Will set his coat on the hanger as soon as he walked through the door to the Wheeler-Byers household. “I’m happy for Tara and Robin. They’re perfect for each other,” Mike said. Will nodded in agreement.

Amelia began walking to her room, but Mike placed his hand on her shoulder.  **“Amelia, wait. We need to talk.”** Mike signed.

Amelia sighed.  **“About what?”** She asked.

**“You’ve been acting weirdly for awhile, hun,”** Will continued.  **“Talk to us.”**

Amelia bit her lip, apprehensive to talk to them.  **“We’re here to listen, sweetie.”** Mike reassured. Amelia nodded.

**“I’ll be right back.”** She signed, going into her room.

Mike and Will went into the living room, sitting on the couch. “I’m so worried.” Will said. Mike clasped his husband’s hand firmly.

“It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” Mike whispered.

Amelia suddenly walked around the corner, a little white envelope in her hands. She handed it to her dads.

When they looked at it, they were shocked.

“It’s from Angela,” Mike said.

Angela was Amelia’s biological mom. Angela was barely mentioned in the household, only talked about by Amelia.

Quickly, they opened the envelope, which they noticed was already opened by Amelia.

They sped read it, skimming over the words. “Oh, my God,” Will’s mouth dropped open.  **“Amelia, sweetie, is it true?”**

Amelia nodded. **“My mom’s pregnant.”**

Mike looked up to Amelia and back at the letter. “And… Angela wants us to adopt her baby.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! I meant to post this before Christmas, but my schedule got the better of me.
> 
> Love, Abbey Elizabeth.


End file.
